MIDDLEWICH'S dream of a huge sporting development looks in tatters after the company behind the ambitious proposals went bust.

A winding-up order was issued against Mid Point Sports Ltd on Thursday over unpaid debts of £100,000. Company director Marjorie Issatt is subject to a Government probe.

It leaves the multi-million pound development in limbo - though Mid Point Sports bosses are hoping to re-form under a new name, MPS UK Ltd, to continue the project.

The winding-up order was slapped on the company on Thursday, weeks after it had called for support from Middlewich residents.

The order was issued after a contractor demanded payment for a bill in the region of £100,000 and Mid Point Sports failed to pay up.

Ms Issatt said she did not expect to have to foot the bill until after planning permission for the development had been secured. But the contractor came for its money before the proposals had even been submitted to council chiefs.

Ms Issatt, who has worked in partnership with Michael Davey on the project, said: 'We had difficulty with one of our suppliers. It put in a bill of £100,000 for some services. It should have waited until after we had got the planning permission but it launched the bankruptcy proceedings.

'I didn't see this one coming and, as a responsible director, I could be suspended. It is a setback because it has cost us a lot of time and money.'

A spokesman for the Department of Trade and Industry said: 'A winding-up order was made in Leeds District Registry on December 2 on the petition of a trade creditor.

'The investigation is purely a statutory one by the Insolvency Service, part of the Department of Trade and Industry.

'They are going to find out what went wrong and what it leads to will ultimately depend on the outcome of that investigation. It can take quite a time - they will investigate thoroughly.'

Speaking after this week's news, members of the Middlewich And District Sports And Leisure Trust (MADSALT) said their dream of building a swimming pool in the town would have been much closer had Mid Point Sports's proposals not diverted everyone's attention.

MADSALT has been campaigning to build a swimming pool on land next to Middle-wich High School, near Middlewich Leisure Centre, for years and backed Mid Point Sports's ambitious plans when they were first mooted.

Cllr Paul Edwards, leader of Middlewich First, said: 'We want to support them and we do want to see it happen, but we were well down the line of getting a swimming pool through MADSALT and now we are 18 months behind the position we would have been in if Mid Point Sports Ltd hadn't turned up and started talking about an Olympic-size pool.'

Cllr Edwards said he hopes MADSALT's original plans can be revived, and Cllr Alison Roylance-White, a member of MADSALT who worked closely with the Mid Point team, said they would be meeting soon to see what to do next.

She said: 'It's a bit of a blow, but when they told me about MPS UK Ltd I felt more comfortable.

'We haven't had a MADSALT meeting for a while and I suggest we invite Marjorie Issatt and Michael Davey to a meeting and then make a decision over what happens next.

'Some people reckon the sports complex is now not going to happen, but I honestly believe it will still happen.'